C262
Jotunheim was inhabited by giants.
Originally belonging to the same world as Muspelheim, they refused to inherit demonic power.
And...
In a corner of Rapuntel City, the city of giants, walked an exceptionally small human.
"It will be alright."
He reached out his hand to the trembling giants.
"There's nothing to worry about."
He was a young man with blonde hair and pale skin.
The huddled giants were large, but not large enough to be called giants.
They were still young giants.
"They are coming..."
"The demons from Muspelheim are coming..."
"They will kill us all..."
They trembled in fear.
Muspelheim.
It was a gigantic force that represented more than half of the giants, and they were like living demons to the giants.
For the younger giants, they were a symbol of terror.
The young man channeled his mana to calm them down.
"I will protect you, and everything will be fine."
The warmth of the young man caught the attention of the giants.
Their anxious and frightened hearts instantly calmed down.
"A human?"
"Is he a human?"
"He is a human."
Perhaps he was too young.
The giants, who had not seen many humans up close, looked at the young man in awe.
Then one of the giants asked.
"Who are you?"
"Baldur."
Swish~
After calming the giants, Baldur let go of their hands.
"So don't worry too much. I will protect you no matter what happens."
Huh-ahh-!
A light as bright as the sun emanated from Baldur's body.
It melted their anxiety and warmed their bodies.
And with that light, Baldur's form disappeared. The young giants cheered as they gazed at the empty spot where Baldur had appeared and disappeared like a flash of light.
"Wow..."
"Awesome!"
"He must be a Ranker!"
"If we survive, I'll boast about it!"
The giants cheered from afar.
Baldur looked at them and felt sorry for them.
All he had done was give them a little courage and faith.
Much more important, much more difficult, was to reignite that faith.
"Is it because of the prophecy that descends upon Jotunheim?"
Why the giants are so afraid, especially after the conflict with Muspelheim.
It was a legend, a prophecy, told to the giants of Jotunheim.
The confrontation between Muspelheim and Asgard. Asgard and Jotunheim will be destroyed by giants wielding fire.
Tap-.
Baldur began to walk.
"The Great War of Ragnarok."
When he was younger, he thought it was just a prophecy.
But as time went on, as he grew up, as he became a Ranker, as he experienced the world as a prince of Asgard, he realized it wasn't.
Ragnarok was not a legend or a prophecy.
It was simply the name of a war that was destined to take place in the near future.
"What am I going to do?"
As he pondered that, someone approached suddenly.
"What are you doing?"
Someone peeked their head out from behind a hood that covered their face.
He couldn't see their face clearly because of the hood. Baldur hesitated before asking who they were.
"Who are you...?"
It was strange.
They had been so close, and he hadn't even noticed.
Thud-.
In an instant, the distance between them closed.
After taking more than ten steps, Baldur's hand reached for the spear on his back.
"Oh, you're fast!"
"Who are you?"
The atmosphere became tense.
His tone was light and airy, but his skill was anything but that.
He was curious about who was hiding behind the hood.
"You will come with me."
"...me?"
Baldur's golden pupils narrowed.
For a moment, the fighting spirit radiated from his body, and he tightly gripped his spear.
"It won't be easy."
"Well. I'll give it a try."
His voice had a tone of laughter.
Even in the face of his energy, he didn't seem intimidated at all. It would be normal for any other Ranker to be scared or to discover the skill gap too late.
"Well...."
Creackle-.
Just at that moment, when Baldur was about to move his foot...
Thud-.
A vibration was heard from somewhere. The opponent behind the hood trembled.
"It really is like a ghost."
It was just a vibration.
Yet, it seemed to recognize who it was.
The energy that had just boiled disappeared in an instant. Baldur, who was about to attack with his spear, stopped.
"Aren't you going to fight?"
"You're an honorable man."
If he thought his opponent was an enemy, his carelessness would be the clearest opportunity to win.
He turned around and gestured.
"I'm not an enemy, come with me. Don't be so cautious."
"......?"
With a bored tone and slow steps. It seemed like he didn't want to pick a fight at all.
'What is he thinking?'
He was someone suspicious. Baldur, who was undecided, cautiously followed him.
He didn't get too close, to be prepared for any unforeseen situation.
Baldur followed the mysterious man in the cloak to an empty giant's house.
Hiss-.
The door they had just entered closed on its own.
Suspecting it was a trap, Baldur reached for his spear again.
"What do you want?"
"There is someone who wants to meet you."
"First, identify yourself."
"I'm not sure if you'll recognize me."
Swoosh-.
He took off the cloak covering his head.
A mischievous face was revealed, along with hair as white as snow.
A vaguely familiar face.
'Where have I seen him...'
A face flashed through his mind.
That long white hair.
A mischievous air and golden eyes.
'The Great Sage, Heaven's Equal...?'
At rank 10 in the rankings, a person with the greatest power and influence in the Tower appeared before him.
The tension that simply transcended the limit made his whole body tense.
What reason and why him?
No.
"He said there was someone who wanted to see me."
Kak-.
The door swung open.
Baldur's gaze naturally turned to the open door.
"If you found him, why didn't he contact me?"
It was another familiar face. This time, he remembered it clearly. The face he had been interested in finding for a while.
"Kim YuWon?"
It was definitely Kim Yoo-won.
No matter how high his rank was, his face was more ingrained in his head than that of the Great Sage, Heaven's Equal, who had been sealed and inactive for over a thousand years.
YuWon was also perplexed.
"Do you know me?"
A high-ranker like Baldur knew his face. If it was about remembering his name, it could be something else, but knowing his face meant that he had investigated his records.
"My father once told me a story about you. He said you reminded him of when I climbed the Tower."
"Is that the only reason?"
"You've been moving with Asgard lately, haven't you?"
"Yes."
"I thought we might meet soon. Although I didn't think it would be like this."
Baldur looked at OhGong and asked.
"What is your relationship with the Great Sage, Heaven's Equal?"
"Friends."
"Friends..."
He had already heard that OhGong had fought against Muspelheim.
He wondered what the reason was, but it seemed to be because of the YuWon in front of him.
"It'll be a long story."
He had many questions.
Baldur opened his mouth as he walked out the door.
"Let's change locations..."
"We're not changing locations."
Chuckle-.
YuWon blocked Baldur's path.
Baldur looked at his with a frown, wondering what the hell he was doing.
Then...
"Don't leave this roof."
YuWon spoke nonsensical words.
"What do you mean by not leaving this roof?"
"Muspelheim's people will come for you."
"Muspelheim's people? For me?"
"Yes."
YuWon nodded and looked out the high window.
"They've already started."
Then, Baldur's gaze followed YuWon's.
The blue sky.
Tk, tk-.
From there, a single eyelid slowly opened.
It seemed small due to the distance, but it was not at all. Rather, it was the size of a skyscraper, judging by the distance.
Those eyes.
He had never seen them, but he had heard of them.
"The Eye of Muspel."
An item used by the giants of Muspelheim.
It was an item with an effect comparable to "clairvoyance," an A+ ability that allowed one to see the world a thousand leagues away at a glance.
"This is the next stop."
They had arrived in Jotunheim.
Midgard had already been attacked. Jotunheim would be the next target sooner or later, so it wasn't unexpected.
Kwak-.
Baldur's hand tightly gripped his spear.
Fortunately, YuWon was here, and so was OhGong.
Two High-Rankers. And, above all, there was a top-ten player among them, so it was worth fighting.
Furthermore, OhGong had entered Muspelheim and slaughtered hundreds of thousands of giants before, so he was more trustworthy.
But...
Click-.
"Haven't you heard me?"
YuWon blocked Baldur's path again as he tried to pass by.
Noticing Muspel's gaze, Baldur grew nervous and asked, "Why are you doing this?"
"You are their target. But what can you do alone?"
"So, you want me to hide here, with a guy like him?"
Baldur's gaze shifted towards OhGong.
OhGong shrugged, as if to say, "Look at this guy."
Of course, Great Sage, Heaven's Equal, was strong.
The power of a single person could be equivalent to that of a large guild.
Certainly, it would make no sense for someone with that kind of power to hide.
But...
"That's because he's Son OhGong."
Now it had to be made clear the difference between Son OhGong and someone who was not.
"You are not him."
"I am Baldur. Prince of Asgard, and I can't just run and hide."
YuWon sighed.
He could see righteousness in Baldur's eyes as he stared back at him.
He would not flee.
That sense of righteousness would later turn Baldur into an iconic symbol of Asgard.
Rank 70.
He was definitely a High-Ranker. It was not in vain that it was said he would succeed Odin as the King of Asgard.
But...
'The problem is dying before that.'
YuWon looked up and gazed at the sky through the window.
The blue sky was slowly being dyed with autumnal red, and Baldur kept staring at it, his eyes still burning fiercely.
YuWon spoke up.
"Have you ever played chess?"
"Chess?"
Perplexed by the question, Baldur nodded.
"I have played."
"Chess is a game of capturing your opponent's king. And it is also a game of preserving your king."
"Don't beat around the bush..."
"You are the king of this battle."
The king.
The most important piece of the game, the one that must survive.
YuWon's job was to protect that piece.
"A foolish king who ventures into the opponent's territory will only bring about the loss of the battle."
Baldur furrowed his brow.
His mind was racing.
He didn't know why he was the king, and there were other things that didn't make sense.
YuWon's gaze turned towards Son OhGong.
"Why are you so worried?"
Here was Great Sage, Heaven's Equal.
If he was truly an ally, there would be nothing to fear.
But YuWon didn't believe that this battlefield could be handled by Son OhGong alone.
There was a reason.
"Surt."
There was a giant descending from that now completely red sky.
"He will come."
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